Tag: chapter books

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Two weeks ago I was so excited when my two new boxes of Titlewave books arrived because inside was a copy of Sent! I read it over that next week and loved it. I didn’t want to put it down-life always gets in the way though and I did have to stop more than a few times-but I was always anxious to pick it back up!

Sent (2009) is the second in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s new Missing series. Click here to read my thoughts on Found, the first one in the series.

This outstanding new series  mixes history with  sci-fi time-taveling fun! Most children would love to find out they are related to royalty-and in this book 13-year-old Chip is Edward V, King of England and Alex is his younger brother Richard,  Duke of York.  Edward is worried their uncle, Richard of Gloucester is going to have them killed and take the throne for himself.   Jonah, Chip, Alex and Katherine travel back to the 15th Century to “fix time”  and interesting things happen to teenagers trying to fit into language, mannerisms and costumes of a very different time period. I loved imagining independent Katherine existing in a the not-to-female-friendly 15th Century!  I don’t know a lot about this historical era but it is very exciting to read  all the mystery and intrigue of the day!  Highly recommend this series and cannot wait to see where the next book will take us.  5/5 peaceful stars
Looks like she has a brand new book out in November!!  No mention of when the third Missing book will be out though.
I know you’re all asking “what else was in those boxes of new books??”
For curious minds here is a partial list:
Allie Finkle’s Stage Fright by Meg Cabot
43 Old Cemetary Road; Dying to meet you by Kate Klise
Julia Gillian (and the quest for joy) by Alison McGhee
the entire new and improved Herculeah Jones mystery series by Betsy Byars
The Clever Stick by John Lechner
Elephants cannot dance! by Mo Willems
A pocket can have a treasure in it by Kathy Stinson
Read it, don’t eat it! by Ian Schoenherr
Yeah, more forthcoming reviews to write:)
What about you?  What has you excited this week?
Be Peaceful,
Michelle

ps: the book fair has been busy today as well-and it has taken me all day to write this (yikes!) because of bfair business and visitors stopping by –Tina from booksaremything dropped by and bought two books!!

Peaceful Reading…

Abigail Iris

Abigail Iris; The one and only by Lisa Glatt and Suzanne Greenberg and illustrated by Joy Allen is a very well-written elementary chapter book for the 3rd and 4th grade student. It tells the story of one sweet Abigail Iris who really loves her family (she is “one of many”); she is a little jealous of her “only” friends. Abigail Iris has an older stepbrother and shares a bedroom with her older sister while her three friends are all sibling-free. “Onlies” get expensive shoes like Heelies, new clothes and exciting Spring Break vacations. Genevieve invites Abigail Iris to join her family on a trip to San Francisco! The drive to San Francisco, the stay at the Francis Drake Hotel and the adventures they have in-between show Abigail Iris why being “one of many” has it’s bonus moments as well. This book is wonderful teaching tool without being overly didactic. Peaceful girl and I read this book at bedtime and it created alot of great conversation about families, finances and traveling. The illustrations are whimsical and very much add to this perfect little chapter book. 5/5 stars
Find Lisa Glatt’s website here, Suzanne Greenberg’s site here, and Joy Allen’s creative site here!
Other great posts about Abigail Iris from Kiss the Book,
Semicolon, and Booktopia.

Peaceful Reading…

Listening Library


Andrew Clements is a prolific writer. It seems like he puts out a new book every year and they are always winning state awards. I read Frindle years ago, loved it and recommend it and all his others to many classroom teachers as great read-alouds but I had not kept up with any of his books myself. His books are constantly checked out by students as well so I never felt like I had to work hard at recommending them. Realistic fiction is not my first choice to read and school stories are like what I live everyday so I hadn’t bothered.
Last week when I was browsing quietly at the public library I stopped to look at books on CD and the one that called my name was No Talking! by Mr Clements himself. I put all three CD’s into the Volvo’s player before I backed out and by the time I was home I was enjoying myself. Keith Nobbs does a good job of portraying both male and female’s, young and old. It’s an interesting story. A fifth grade boy, Dave Packer is reading information about Ghandi for a report. Dave is intrigued by Ghandi’s use of silent meditation and Dave decides to give it a try for just one day. In that first day he listens to another classmate, Lynsey, babble on and on and he yells at her (un-Ghandi-like but he is in fifth grade after all). Competitive by nature, both agree to a challenge, thinking the other will automatically lose! What follows is a look into what happens when students step out of their norm and how much learning can occur at school beyond the general subjects. The students surprise themselves!!
Highly recommended for 3rd-5th grade. I loved the references to Ghandi and thought it could lead to good discussion about him and what he stood for!!
This was very enjoyable to listen and I plan on catching up on all my A. Clements school stories by listening in my car.
Click here for Andrew Clement’s website.

Peaceful Reading…

Ghost stories

I’ve never been a fan of scary stories because I get scared easily, really! The cover of The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (2008) intrigued me as well as the title-everyone’s been at a crossroads before in their life. The inside flap says this:

Meet Zack Jennings. Average kid. He has a hard-working father.
A new stepmother. A new house. Even a new dog, Zipper.

Things are looking up for Zach.
Except there is this ghost. This really nasty ghost.

A ghost who kills
people.

And Zach is on his list.

Wow! Just reading that creeps me out. I had to give it a try though-I had ordered it for my school library based on the reviews but I had to see if it was good scary or just too much!! I was not disappointed and I pleasantly have not had any nightmares involving Zach or his ghosts.

Zach and his dad live in NYC and they are getting ready to move out of the city away from their memories of Zach’s chain-smoking mom, who seemed fairly evil in Zach’s flashback memories of her. Now Zach’s dad is remarrying a lively, young children’s author and moving to Connecticut. Zach is already freaked out cuz’ he thinks his mom is haunting him so when weird stuff starts happening in CT it just seems like normal now. The back plot of the story is this 50-year-old tragedy involving a bus load of folks, a creep in a Thunderbird and a bitter old woman, who thinks she owns the town. This tale is intricatilly-woven and a joy to read-even the haunting parts just because you want Zach to make it through all this. He has a happy life waiting for him. As I poked around Chris Grabenstein’s home page I noticed a sequel is out, The Hanging Hill. I’m going to put it on my Christmas list!! Click here for more Chris Grabenstein information.
P.S. Another great thing about this book is there is a friendly librarian character (Mrs. Emerson) who helps solve the mystery! Grabenstein adds many happy references to how helpful librarians, libraries are to everyone like this one:
“What do you know about the greyhound bus accident of June 21, 1958?” (asks Judy)
“I know how to find out more. After all, dear, I am a librarian.” (says Mrs. Emerson) p. 164
Ever so helpful, those librarians!!
Be Peaceful-Michelle
Peaceful Reading…

Teaser Tuesday


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Just do the following:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My teasers:

He fully expected the
giant oak tree to start swinging its branches and tossing acorns at him. Maybe it would tear down the power lines and electrocute him.

p. 57 from The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein

Peaceful Reading…

Savvy by Ingrid Law

This book had already arrived at my school library when my local indie book store gave me an ARC of it for a project I helped them with and I’m so glad they did. Students have been checking out the one at school while I’ve been able to keep reading my copy at home. Win-Win, yes.

The Blurb on the back says:

Mibs Beaumont is about to become a teenager. As if that prospect weren’t scary enough, thirteen is when a Beaumont’s savvy strikes-and with one brother who causes hurricanes and another who creates electricity, her savvy promises to be outrageous…and positively thrilling.

Right before her big birthday moment though her father’s in an car accident and Mibs’ birthday dreams are temporarily crushed. The very best part of this book takes place when Mibs decides to stowaway on an old pink school bus with Lester, who’s been selling pink Bibles to the minister so she can get to Salina, right where Poppa is resting up.
Two of her brothers, Samson and Fish, join her on the bus as well as two friends, Will, Jr and Bobbi. Will, Jr.’s characters is sweet and helpful but it’s Bobbi, whose character transforms the most. Lester and later, Lill, the mother hen-always-late waitress help this band of children get to where they need to go, together. I liked this book for the wonderful premise, the great words and the friendships that bloomed.
Here are two of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Perhaps Samson’s strengthing touch was just an ordinary sort of magic, the kind of magic that exists in the honest, heartfelt concern of one person for another. Regardless of the reason, with Samson’s small hand on my arm, it wasn’t long before my eyes began to dry.” (p. 113)

and

“I watched Lill gaze fondly at Lester. I could tell by the way she looked at him that she found something in the man she admired. Maybe it had been the way Lester stopped to rescue her from her broken-down car, or how he’d helped her pick her money up off the floor, or his spur-of-the-moment plunder of the pie from the diner. Lester might not have looked the part of a hero, but I suppose you never can tell right off who might have a piece of Prince Charming deep down inside.” (p. 199)

These are the characters that make you want everything, just simple everything, to turn out fine!! This is an amazing first book for Ingrid Law and you can find her information here.

I’m already a few chapters into Sarah Dessen’s Keeping the moon and yet I managed to head to the bookstore after school to purchase both Rumors (The Luxe #2) by Anna Godbersen and Liar by Justine Larbalestier. Tough reading choices ahead.

Peaceful Reading…

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are my two teasers:

“Fish threw a glance Bobbi’s way. The girl was leaning up against the side of the bus watching me like I was a mouse and she was a cat-a cat who liked playing with its food before eating.” (p. 182) ~from Savvy by Ingrid Law

The Official Savvy site @ Penguin

Peaceful Reading…

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graf


What a radiant cover!! I ordered Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff in early August and even though, I was so taken by the cover, I let it languish on my tbr bookcase until 3 days ago. I’m sure I picked it up right when I needed to read it.

Synopsis:

It’s summer vacation and Annie fills her days with reading about infectious diseases and going through boxes of band-aids. She rides her bike with full gear on and eventually starts wearing her bike helmet almost everywhere for extra protection. Her fears are sadly real because her brother, Jared has recently died of a sudden heart complication and Annie doesn’t want anything to happen to her. Her fears, while real, begin to take the joy out of life and Annie begins to understand this especially after she meets her new neighbor, Mrs. Finch! Mrs. Finch has this amazing quote that parallels grief with an umbrella-I would quote it here but to do that would reveal to much-You must read it yourself to discover it. I wish Mrs. Finch would move to my neighborhood-she could help me with so much! Baking chocolate chip cookies and playing gin rummy are good solutions for many things!! Mrs. Finch was the character that gave the book depth, for me. Annie’s best friend, Rebecca and her father, Dr. Young helped as well. His word wall was a wonderful addition.

The first half of the book I was mentally begging her parents to seek grief counseling for the whole family. Most of the second half of the book I spent with tears running down my face as Annie worked on closing her umbrella. Wow! This book was far more powerful then the first few chapters led me to think. It’s not often that a book makes me openly shed massive tears for several chapters yet the book isn’t sad; just a beautiful look at life.

I think this book deals with grief a family might have after the death of a child in a very realistically. I wanted to shake the parents many times and say “wake up! Talk to your daughter” then I reminded myself grief is different for everyone. I finished this book in a beautiful city park in Floyd, IA where I was waiting for my 14-yr-old son. The park was filled with trees just beginning their fall transformation and it was a lovely place to read. My son had been at my mom and step-father’s farm, having his first hunting experience. This has been a pt. of contention for years between my son and I-me, peaceful reader, Why would you want to kill a living creature?? I think he inherited my father’s hunting genes and I have to close my own umbrella just a tiny bit to let him lead his own teen-age life. I have to remind myself it is only hunting and in a controlled, safe environment with an adult male who has great respect for the earth. Finishing the book when I did helped me work all that out so thank you Lisa Graff and Mrs. Finch for helping me right at the perfect time. The book also resurfaced my own grief about my Dad’s untimely death, made me mad at him for a bit on why he wasn’t there to be with Tristan during this important time in his life. All this from a chapter book-see what I mean-Wow! Now, I think I will bake some chocolate chip cookies!!
This book is perfect for 4th-6th grade.
Lisa Graff blogs here at The Longstockings spot.

Peaceful Reading…

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

All readers must stop and eat or cook, in order to be able to eat! Obviously, author Kate DiCamillo understands this as well-her references to soup in The Tale of Despereaux are one of the reasons I love the book so much. Saturday night I had to put down my copy of The Magician’s Elephant–I’m only one chapter away from finishing-to make dinner so we could eat before going to a play. I had a recipe from my Veg. Times I knew I was making but I also had a very large eggplant staring at me. I googled a recipe and came up with Eggplant Fries! Recipe from VT-Chickpea Croquettes-and they were yummy!! Dinner was delicious and we made it to both plays on time! Right before the play I had an extra 20 minutes and I was w/out children, which left me with quiet time to read the last chapter.
It was so worth it!!!

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo (September, 2009) is a beautiful, sweeping novel for all readers and it’s only 201 pages long.

It begins…

At the end of the century before last, in the market square of the city of Baltese, there stood a boy with a hat on his head and a coin in his hand. The boy’s name was Peter Augustus Duchene, and the coin that he held did not belong to him but was instead the property of his guardian, an old soldier named Vilna Lutz, who had sent the boy to the market for fish and bread.

Peter, in a rash moment, decides to use the money for a fortune teller, who tells him his sister is alive and if he follows the elephant, he will find Adele. How is Peter supposed to find an elephant in Baltese? His need to locate his sister is so great he listens to his heart. Little does he know forces have been set into motion and a magician trying to do achieve something amazing utters a spell unlike any he has ever uttered and an elephant appears. Piece by piece everyone finds just what they need.

Like Desperaux, this book threads together several characters to create one finale. Peter shows us all that if you listen to your heart and your dreams, good things will follow. I love DiCamillo’s style of writing and this book proves her skill once again. I really love the names her characters are given…I’m sure they just come to her! Peter’s name is beautiful while Vilna Lutz just doesn’t sound like someone you want to hang around. If you haven’t read any of her books start at the beginning with Because of Winn-Dixie, a great book as well as a great movie-not easy to find that combination.
If you want to read synopsis of The Magician’s elephant click here.
Read another great review here at Stainless Steel Droppings.

Peaceful Reading…

Margaret Peterson Haddix's new series

The Missing: Book 1

Found (2008)

I remember reading The Hidden by MPH, the first in her Shadow Children series years ago with my children-the ones that are now teenagers. I don’t think we read the whole series(there are 7 total) but we read a lot of them and we were fascinated by the idea. This new series is just as amazingly unique. She takes a whole plane load of babies and drops them at an airport, no pilot, no friendly attendants. Fast forward 13 years and that crew of babies, adopted into families are now teenagers and are leading regular lives. Two of them, Jonah and Chip, begin to get odd letters in the mail.
Their investigation takes them to the FBI, where they find disappearing janitors as well as a list of survivors and witnesses. Are they survivors or witnesses? From this list, Chip and Katherine, Jonah’s sister make phone calls trying to put any pieces together. Jonah just wants to go back to his regular life before the crazy letters began. Eventually a secret meeting at the local library (nice touch; it is a great place for information) takes place with one of the witnesses and she reveals a few more odd clues. Ahhh, such a mystery!
This book is a great mix of science fiction and I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi but time travel is pretty fascinating. I’m ready to read Sent, the second in the series, which will include a little history according to the synopsis on the back of the book.
I highly recommend everything by this author!

Peaceful Reading…